By Darlene Tsao

When an emergency shelter needed to be opened in the middle of the night this week, Red Cross volunteer Rosie Collins answered the call. Back-to-back "atmospheric river" flooding had led to widespread evacuations in Washington.

She jumped in to help the Red Cross as a Mass Care Shelter Supervisor in Auburn, WA but her volunteering with the Red Cross goes back to 2017. "My first deployment was in Napa Valley, California, and it was for wildfires. And since that time, I've had about 23 other deployments." 

Just during the past hurricane season, Rosie went on nine different deployments. In addition to sheltering, she does Feeding outreach for the Red Cross --  delivering meals to people throughout communities impacted by disasters.

When asked what motivates her to keep volunteering, Rosie said, "My heart bleeds for people in these situations. It just breaks my heart that they would have to leave where they were, in the comfort of their homes, to deal with this. We try our best, when they get here, to make them as comfortable as possible."

She helped to have a hospital bed delivered when a mom at the Auburn shelter needed support for a son who uses a wheelchair. The family was also provided access to an area of the shelter where some of his care could be done privately. 

"Those people were so grateful for what we did for them, and you asked me why I keep coming back. That's why. It's the gratitude that people show when you go out of your way to be able to do what they need and to provide for their needs," she said.

Rosie does whatever she can to be accommodating. When learning from another shelter worker that more people were coming, she began discussing the need for vegan meal options with her colleagues. "Not every single person has the same needs, and not every family has the same needs." 

"You have to consider that they've been ripped away from their homes. They've had to leave, a lot of them, with just the clothes on their back," she said. "The Red Cross has always provided us with the tools we need to make our clients safe, happy, and welcome. Mentally, physically and emotionally." 

Rosie even found herself in need during the current deployment. "I'm a Catholic, so I don't leave home without my rosary. And I forgot it this time." One of the first people who walked through the shelter door was with Red Cross Spiritual Care. When learning Rosie was without a rosary, she pulled one out of her pocket to give to her.

Rosie said recent days have been less stressful. "A lot of people are able to go back home. And so, our favorite thing in the world is to say, 'Yes, we are glad to check you out and send you back home'. I'm gonna cry when they leave, but it's happy tears."

If you would like to explore volunteer opportunities with the Red Cross, go to Redcross.org and click on Volunteer.